


A Thief On A Mission

by Emmasinthebooknow



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Will Scarlet breaking into the library
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-21
Updated: 2014-11-21
Packaged: 2018-02-26 12:13:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2651672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emmasinthebooknow/pseuds/Emmasinthebooknow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will tries to break into the library and steal a book. When Belle catches him, her response is unexpected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Thief On A Mission

Will Scarlet is kneeling in front of the locked door to the library. It's dark outside. Storybrooke's streets are quiet. Will has an impressive collection of lock-picking tools arranged around him, and he is picking the lock to break into the library.

Tonight, he's on a mission. It's the mission of great honor and importance. (Or, he wonders, does it sound better as just "a mission of great honor?") He's going to rob the library in the name of True Love. The whole thing has a fantastic ring to it.  He wishes he were better at rhyming, so he could set it to song.

He's deep in concentration, trying to pick the lock - something's clearly wrong with it, this normally doesn't take so long - and attempting to think of words that rhyme with "library." He will have to steal a rhyming dictionary. That'll sort of be in the name of True Love too, since a catchy song is important for spreading the tale of Will Scarlet and the Library far and wide. 

He was so deep in concentration, he didn't notice the girl standing two feet away, watching him work.

"Is something wrong with the door?" she says.

He looks up. It's a pretty girl, looking at him with a far sweeter expression than caught-in-the-act thieves usually recieve. Her blue eyes are twinkling with amusement. She looks familiar, too. He doesn't know quite how all this adds up (though he's guessing it involves alcohol) but he decides that it's a bloody good stroke of luck. If he's clever, he might convince her to not call the sheriff.

"That is correct," Will says. "I'm here to repair the lock."

She nods like this makes perfect sense. "The librarian called you to come fix it?"

A librarian asking him to fix the library door! What a genius little touch to add to his story. "Exactly! The librarian called me to come fix it."

(When he finds someone to compose his dramatic ballad, he should definitely include something about fighting off a swarm of angry librarians. They're brandishing....what do librarians use as weapons? Heavy books with really sharp corners? This needs work.)

"In fact," he adds, "the librarian is waiting for me, so I should probably finish doing this as soon as possible."

She clears her thoat. Bites her lip a little, like she has a secret. Then she looks right at him and says, "I'm Belle. I'm the librarian."

Will drops all his metal tools with a clatter. "Bloody hell."

"Why do you say that?" She still looks perfectly friendly, which is starting to unsettle Will quite a bit. This is normally the part where people shout at him and call the sheriff, and Will runs away. And there's something oddly reassuring about being a part of that routine. It's all the natural order of things. Thieves and running away are like peanut butter and jelly. Darts and dartboards. Alcohol and more alcohol.

So, increasingly distressed by the friendly smile of the pretty girl (is this the part where she's going to kill him?), he decides that the best course of action is to stick to the script he'd planned out in his head, to use if he got caught. He stands up, holding his head high, and says:

"Me name's Will Scarlet, and I am a thief, but I'm here in the name of True Love. See, me mate is trying to do something with a magic book, to help his True Love with - well, actually, I'm a bit foggy on the details. But he needs a book from this library, and it has to be before sunrise tomorrow morning. So I'm here to break into this library and steal the book he needs, come hell or high water, come scoundrels or sheriffs, come rabbits or rainstorms, come demons or dragons or dangerous-"

"Will?"

"Yes?"

"This is a thursday. The library's open until ten."

Will blinks. "So I'm not even breaking into the library at all."

Belle slides past him, and then props the door open with a rubber doorstop. "Not for another two hours."

(That must be what was wrong with the lock. All these bloody people in Storybrooke never lock their doors! How can he break in anywhere if they never _lock_ anything?)

Well, Will isn't about to just walk in and do this _legally_ , not after all that buildup about stealing for an honorable cause. But she's watching him, and biting her lip in a way that says she's going to be paying attention. So she figures he'd just better head on in and wait for an opportunity, when she's distracted. Then he'll steal the book he needs.

*

Like any good thief, Will is patient. He could wait here all day. Sure, he's been through all the pop-up books in the library - twice. And he's learned why a cat would want a hat. (Turns out it's a trademark accessory to build a troublemaking reputation, which Will can respect.) And he's found three books that were wrongly shelved, re-shelved them in the proper locations, then realized that's probably law-abiding behavior and quickly put them back in the wrong spots.

Okay, he's not _that_ patient. 

(And the difficulty of the mission is increased because the pretty librarian keeps doing distracting things. Like reading books. And writing things down. And sitting behind the information desk.)

He strolls up to the information desk, all casual. Belle is reading a book that's at least as thick as his head. (And Will Scarlet's head, as he's oft been told, is extremely thick.) He can't see the cover, which makes it bloody intimidating. She could be reading _Top Twenty Ways To Trap A Thief In A Library Dungeon_ right under his nose. Maybe that's why she's smiling like that.

"What are you reading?" Will asks, with an air of deep suspicion.

Belle holds up the book. "Les Miserables."

Will doesn't know what this means, so he nods intelligently. He is deeply concerned now, and needs to get out of here _now_ , before this very cute evil genius kicks into high gear.

Belle says, "Oh, here. You left your rhyming dictionary up here earlier." She sets it on the desk for him.

"Thank you," Will says. Then he makes his move: "I'm looking for more pop-up books. I've seen all the ones in the children's section. Are there more in other places?"

Belle types something into an old-looking computer. "Yes, there are a few in nonfiction. Here, come with me."

"Oh. I'll wait here," Will says. "I really like that armchair. Wouldn't want anyone to take it." The library is empty, he realizes, just a moment too late. But Belle just shrugs and says she'll be back in a minute.

Will counts to ten, making himself take it slowly ( _one-evil-librarian, two-evil-librarian, three-evil-librarian_ ) and then makes his move. He heads back to the section where he found the book he needs for Robin, and tucks it hastily under his coat, and then he's off, striding towards freedom and victory. 

As he heads for the door, he remembers that he left his rhyming dictionary on the reference desk. He's feeling good, so he makes a quick detour to grab it. But just as he lays hands on it steps out from behind a bookshelf next to the desk. She looks smug and triumphant, as law-abiding people generally do when they catch him at things.

But instead of grabbing the phone and ringing up the sheriff, she tilts her head with a look of genuine interest in her eyes and says,

"At least tell me what book you're stealing. Please? I've never had someone steal a book before, and there's something a little exciting about it. This would all make a much better story if I knew." She's doing it again. Not going by the natural order of things. Will shifts uncomfortably. What the hell is he supposed to say?

"Aren't you supposed to call the sheriff and say 'help, help, save me from thieves'?"

She bites her bottom lip, her eyes sparkling. "If that's what you like."

Will feels like he's quickly sinking further into quicksand. He can't think of what to do except take the book out from under his coat and show her. Which is definitely the wrong thing to do. 

"I am stealing this book," he says, showing it to her, "and it's all in the name of true love. i'm going to write a ballad on it, and i shall leave a copy of it on the library door. I can even put you in the ballad, and say you chased me around and stuff, make you sound really heroic. i promise i'll make you sound good." He pauses. "Also, I'm stealing this rhyming dictionary to make the ballad better."

"Will?" Belle says. 

"I prefer 'Knave of Hearts' at moments like these. Now, is this the part where you call someone arrest me?" He's getting a little desperate. He'd give anything for a good chase.

Then Belle says, "That book is free for anyone to check out for two weeks."

He blinks. "So then I'm not robbing the library. Again." This is both disappointing, and slightly embarassing. 

"Well," Belle says, "technically, you would have been, because I haven't scanned it into the system yet." She holds up a small device like something from a grocery store checkout line.

"So if I took it now, and went on me merry way, I'd be stealing." Will takes a step backwards "Right under your nose and everything."

Belle tilts her head, and plays with one of her soft curls, eyeing him from under her lashes. "Well, not if I wrote down the name of the book, entered it into the system under your name, and then went and got it from your tent within two weeks before it's due back." She twirls the curl around her finger. "I'm incredibly good at tracking."

"Bloody hell!" Will says, sounding openly desperate now. "Can't I catch a break?"

There's a twinkle in her eye. She bites her lip again. Then, she takes a step backwards. "I think I need to go report a robbery."

Triumphant, Will turns and heads for the door.

But something just isn't right. He feels a pull to return to the library, to hand her the book so she can scan it with the cute little scanning gun, and maybe ask her to recommend him eight or ten or twenty more books to check out. He tries to stride purposefully towards the door, but he can't help it - he turns back.

She's holding the phone up to her ear, apparently listening. She smiles and waves at him, and mouths, "See you soon!"

Bloody hell. He's going to return the book on time.


End file.
